In the more than three years since becoming the top House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries has sometimes struggled to escape the shadow of his revered predecessor.
However, he stood alone in the spotlight Wednesday, after pulling off a feat of political hardball — a statewide vote paving the way for new Virginia congressional maps that could erase four GOP-held seats — that earned praise from Nancy Pelosi herself.
“I’m very proud,” the former speaker said in an interview, adding that Jeffries has handled redistricting “brilliantly.”
Tuesday’s vote was the culmination of months of lobbying by Jeffries to counter the redistricting effort launched by Trump and his allies in Texas in mid-decade. They caused an uproar across the country and pressured Democratic state legislators to match the GOP.
Not all of his solicitations were successful, but he found partners in the Virginia State Assembly willing to craft a plan that would turn the commonwealth’s 6-5 Democratic map into a 10-1 advantage. Jeffries backed the effort with $38 million in funding from the leadership-aligned group, House Majority Forward – the largest single expenditure in the fight.
“Donald Trump and the Republicans started this vicious war,” Jeffries told reporters Wednesday. “And we have made it clear as Democrats that we are going to end this.”
Now that his gamble has paid off, Jeffries has solid proof of his political savvy and prowess — as he moves to secure the Speaker’s chair in November.
That could help assuage some Democrats’ concerns about whether the notoriously cautious Jeffries is the man for a time when Trump is using every bit of his power to score gains for the GOP.
His allies say he has now proven that he can match the Trump administration in strategy and rhetoric.
“They did a great job and we got it,” Democratic Representative Debbie Dingell of Michigan said in an interview. “And if people are going to mess up, we’re not afraid to push back.”
Jefferies showed some swagger in the immediate aftermath on Wednesday. During a morning news conference, he used more battlefield language than Capitol Hill.
Along with other top party leaders, he called DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene of Washington a “field general.” He said Democrats will “keep fighting one battle after another.” And Jeffries warned Republicans in Florida that if they started their own redistricting plan, they would “turn around and find out.”
Jeffries’s second favorite slogan recently is a direct jab at Trump: “Maximum war. Everywhere. All the time” – an August quote New York Times article This is attributed to a person close to the President who describes the MAGA approach to redistricting.
However, the aggressive approach is not only to Republicans, but also to skeptics in his own party, who have compared him to Pelosi — who spent the last four years of her presidency in daily battle with Trump, often getting the best of the president.
For better or worse, Jeffries is nowhere near as popular as Pelosi was at the height of her power. Nearly a quarter of Americans surveyed by CNN last month had no idea who Jeffries was — far behind his Senate counterpart Chuck Schumer in name recognition. And those who know him aren’t particularly impressed, even inside his own party: A November YouGov poll — a record taken shortly after the end of the government shutdown — found that 23 percent of Democrats had an unfavorable view of the House minority leader.
But members of her caucus — eager to aggressively counter the GOP power grab in the post-Pelosi era — praised their leader on Wednesday.
Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who is being targeted in a GOP-led redistricting effort in Missouri, said in an interview, “For those of us who have been here with him throughout his career, he has never had a moment of regret.” “And he will lead us out of the woods, and I look forward to him being the speaker.”
Still, some in his caucus and on the campaign trail to join him — primarily on the progressive wing — have openly called on Jeffries to do more to counter Trump and Capitol Hill Republicans. That feeling has not completely gone away.
“I think every leader should always be trying harder,” Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said in an interview. “And he hears me say it all the time.”
In response to the demands, Jefferies in a brief interview pointed to the removal of “toxic” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi as evidence that Democratic lawmakers were getting results. Jeffries has also had great success using discharge petitions and other unorthodox legislative moves to wrest control of the House agenda from Speaker Mike Johnson.
“We will continue to respond aggressively against the Trump administration,” he said. “There is certainly more work to be done in that regard, and we continue to make efforts.”
Ramirez acknowledged that the redistricting victory went some way to proving his abilities as a party leader.
“Yesterday was a good step for him,” she said.
If Democrats regain the House majority in November, progressives may still try to find a replacement for Jeffries. But most members of the caucus are relieved that with Virginia’s four new seats, they appear to have successfully completed the GOP’s reapportionment effort.
“I hope that means we have more chances for Speaker Jeffries,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said of the vote in his home state. “A strong leader with a clear agenda for the American people.”
